U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law a new set of sanctions on Saturday that would impose mandatory sanctions on entities or countries that provide goods or services for Iran's weapons programs.

"I applaud Congress for demonstrating its bipartisan commitment to confronting the Iranian regime's repressive and destabilizing activities by passing the Iran Freedom Support Act," Bush said in a statement.

The U.S. Senate passed the new sanctions bill earlier Saturday, which was passed by voice vote and cleared by the House of Representatives on Thursday.

The bill, the Iran Freedom Support Act, sanctions any entity that contributes to Iran's capability of acquiring chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The bill states that the U.S. policy was meant "not to bring into force an agreement for cooperation with the government of any country that is assisting the nuclear program of Iran or transferring advanced conventional weapons or missiles."

The U.S. sanctions against Iran have remained since the takeover of the U.S. embassy by Iranian radicals in 1979.

Moreover, Washington has been seeking to impose sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council on the grounds that Iran develops a nuclear weapon program under the cover of a civilian program.

Iran, however, has denied the charge, saying its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Source: Xinhua